With five decades of a career to date, Paul Brady, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is one of Ireland’s most popular artists. First gaining attention at college in Dublin in a series of mid ‘60s rock/soul bands, in ’67 he joined The Johnstons, recording seven albums on British label Transatlantic Records. In ’74 he joined legendary Irish folk band Planxty. On their demise he toured with Andy Irvine releasing in ’77 the album Andy Irvine and Paul Brady, still considered one of the greatest of the genre. Going solo in ’78 he released Welcome Here Kind Stranger voted Folk Album of the Year by Melody Maker. By 1980 he had become a songwriter gaining wide acclaim with his first self-penned album Hard Station. Soon he came to global attention with artists covering his songs from Tina Turner, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Art Garfunkel, Cher, Cliff Richard, Phil Collins to Joe Cocker, to name but a few.
Throughout the 80s and 90s he toured widely solo and with his band in USA, UK, Ireland and Europe, guesting on both Eric Clapton’s and Dire Straits’ mid 80s European tours. Celebrated by Ireland’s RTE Television with a six-part series ‘The Paul Brady Songbook’ (2002), with Lifetime Achievement awards from the Irish Recorded Music Association, inducted into the Academies of the British Composers and Songwriters and Ireland’s IMRO, Paul Brady is part of the cultural fabric of Ireland. His latest album ‘Unfinished Business’ (2017) stylistically continues to mirror the eclecticism of his long and varied musical journey.
